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General Veers
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Oct 14, 2010
Jailed over fake insurance claims
By Khushwant Singh
ALTHOUGH he was alone in the car that was rammed by a taxi two years ago, Tan Kok Seng told police he had four passengers. Subsequently, the odd-job worker conspired with an accomplice to get law firm Kalai & Company to file personal injury accident claims with India International Insurance (III) for three of the phantom passengers. On Thursday, he pleaded guilty to both offences and was jailed four months.
The court heard that Tan, 37, had called Ong Ai Peng, 48, immediately after the accident with a taxi on Yishun Avenue 2 at 11.30pm on Feb 19, 2008. He thought Ong, being a former tow-truck driver, could help him get his car repaired. Ong arranged for a tow truck and accompanied Tan to seek medical treatment at Yishun Healthway Clinic the next day.
He also convinced Tan to file a personal injury claim against the taxi driver involved in the accident. Ong then returned home and roped in his wife and two daughters as the other phantom passengers at the time of the accident. All are believed to have faked injuries and each insurance claim amounted to more than $9,000. In return for Tan's complicity, Ong promised to pay for the repairs to the car.
However, the insurance agency smelled a rat and did not pay up. After internal checks, III reported 20 suspicious motor injury claims to the Commercial Affairs Department in January last year (09). At least 17 people have been charged for similar offences Except for Tan and three others, the rest have not been dealt with yet. Such offenders could have been jailed for up to 2 1/2 years and/or fined.
